Slashdot Mirror
Linux Demo Day Worldwide
We've been alerted to the upcoming Linux Demo Day. It's July 23, and the aim is show the world writ large how cool Linux really is. Currently there are 33 LUGs, and numerous corporate sponsers - click-thru to sign up.The actual event is Sept. 12-13 - corporate sponser deadline is July 23.
hmm, worlwide. I hope that andover will give slashdot access to some sort of proofreader or editor as to reduce the amount of blatantly careless errors since the current posters seem incapable of rereading what they've typed before submitting it.
Ugh. You understood what he meant did you not? Obviously so if you were able to rewrite the sentences.
christ.
(this is timothy)
... call me an optimist, but a demo would have to be pretty terrible for people to say "That sucks and I will never again consider it" versus "Hmmm. Interesting possibility." Even that is lukewarm, perhaps, but I'm calling it a plausibly worst-case scenario. More likely, I think, is "Hey, this is neat! Tell me again what you mean when you say I don't have to use Windows !"
... I just wouldn't let them try to install anything right away;) since I end up turning for help to my housemates all the time.
... a COMMITTEE!"
Neph has a valid point: there are some projects that might be more impressive and solid in 6 months, and a demo then might therefore be more effective.
However, I think the possible good far outweighs the possible bad. Let me list a few examples of what I see as good here:
- Linux Demo Day will see events at all sorts of levels -- definitely corporate evironments, as well as institutions of both secondary and higher education. Beyond that, there will probably be some community demos in malls or other public places. LUGs and no doubt individuals will be showing their friends and neighbors (loosely speaking) what's cool about Linux. People should talk about it
- Sooner is better, in a sort of Open Source tradition or something. It wouldn't have helped if Linus or the many other early coders had said "Well, I don't want to release it until it's perfect." 6 months from now, or from mid September, or any other date, there will always be things to improve. If this idea had been propounded 2 years ago I think the same response could have been made, but even then I'd rather have seen this gone ahead with. Even my untuned, rather chaotic and slipshod machine could make a great demo, if users were allowed to play with Netscape, the Gimp and a few other programs under X
- This may be the last time that Linux needs a public demonstration of this sort. This time next year, Linux will be close to a standard household word (I keep checking this, and so far it's still not one;) ). With the growing list of big-name vendors who are leaping into Linux support, this might be an excellent kickstart for potential home users to say "That's neat! You mean the PC I already have can do all this with this free stuff?!" Or for corporate types to say "Hmmm. Well, if it runs Oracle for the business and Apache for Web serving, and can be supported by my in-house nerds, I definitely want to look into it. I'll form myself into the shape of
Also, it'll be fun for those involved. I count that as a legitimate reason.
Deepak is doing a yeoman's job of coordinating all of this, too, so I hope he ends up having some fun!
Cheers,
(this has been timothy)
How about a "Million Penguin march" =]
Posted by FascDot Killed My Previous Use:
/. was responding too slowly:
...Hemos is getting to be worse than Sengan ever was.
I tried to post this earlier, but
If I were Andover.net, I would jump at the chance to take over Slashdot....if only so I could force the "editors" to take Proofreading 101.
---
Put Hemos through English 101!
Looks pretty darn good to whom? You like it, I like it, but how will it look to someone who's never seen anything but Windows?
What I'm worried about is that people will try it, be disappointed (What do you mean I can't play Tribes? What do you mean I can't use Excel? Why is Netscape so slow and crashy?), and forevermore have Linux pegged as useless in their minds.
What bugs me most about this is that there are so many projects that are so close, collectively, to providing the kind of features that will really impress these people. It would be heartbreaking if what I fear does in fact happen, and could be avoided by waiting, say, 6 months.
I don't know how likely that is. But if the people behind this project really push the media's buttons, and in fact Linux is a fairly hot item in the news these days (as far as technology goes)... Well, I just hope I'm wrong.
Steve 'Nephtes' Freeland | Okay, so maybe I'm a tiny itty
If this stunt gets all the attention it's trying to, Linux had better put in a damned good showing, because there won't be a second chance; this is going to be a first-impression experience for most.
Steve 'Nephtes' Freeland | Okay, so maybe I'm a tiny itty
Maybe Team Slashdot just wants to get a two-month head start. I too, am confused and deranged. Well, I'm always deranged but confusion over the dates is my main concern right now. Could we get some clarification, Hemos? Which date is correct?
Setting his threshold to 5, Sparky eliminated most of the trolls on /.
I am on the staff and the actual demo day is on Sept 12 -18 the July 23 date comes from the last day that corporate sponsors can agree to particpate. This is set to allow time for us to get all the information to the LUGs.
Jim Ray
I would, normally, not bother to write about the errors in a post, but in this case the actual content of the post was obscured by the grammatical and sentence-level errors, and it suggest a lack of professionalism. I assume that "Worlwide" in the subject was supposed to be Worldwide. (Erg.) Still, I can't, in my right mind, criticize anyone else's spelling.
"It's July 23, and the aim is show the world writ large how cool Linux really is."
OK, it's not the world that's 'writ large,' it's Linux's coolness. Second, the aim is 'to show.' Consider this sentence:
"The event takes place on July 23rd, and the aim is to show the world Linux's coolness writ large."
The post reads:
"Currently there are 33 LUGs, and numerous corporate sponsers - click-thru to sign up."
Introductory phrases such as currently are usually followed by a comma.
I wish I could have focussed on the story and not on the words.
Haven't we seen exactly the same kind of thing some 2-3 years ago for OS/2? Go figure...
Deepak Saxena
Project Director, Linux Demo Day '99
Deepak Saxena
"Computers are useless, they can only give you answers" - Picasso
...we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi"--Darth Maul
(or something like that)
This seems to be the sentiment behind the Linux Demo. The Linux community is always striving for more publicity in a wider forum, so ready or not I think there's no holding back this time. This is as much a mark of achievement for those already involved with Linux as it is for the education of the uninitiated.
--Carl
The Linux Demo Day site says the date is going to be September 12-19, rather than July 23. What's correct? Where did July 23 come from?
--Carl